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View all search resultsDomestic soybean output down to just 8% of demand since 2021
Local soybean farmers have produced just 8 percent of national demand over the past five years, according to a senior food official, who also said the government was cooking up a variety of strategies, including a targeted subsidy, to boost output to accelerate its self-sufficiency agenda.
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A worker prepares soybeans for processing on Feb. 5, 2026, at a tofu factory in Surabaya, East Java. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
D
omestic soybean production has been on a steep, downward trend over the past five years, remaining far below the average national demand of 2.6 million tonnes, according to a senior food official.
During a seminar presentation on Monday, Widiastuti, deputy for food and agribusiness coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Food Minister, revealed the country’s soybean production between 2021 and 2026 reached just 190,223 tonnes, or a mere 8.14 percent of total demand.
“And because of this shortfall, there is an average import of roughly 2 million [tonnes] to meet the average demand of 2.6 million [tonnes],” she said, as quoted by Kumparan.
Total production amounted to 78,693 tonnes last year, while the harvest area dropped 11.68 percent to 137 hectares compared to 2024.
“As of May, we can see that production has reached only around 7,691 tonnes,” Widiastuti added.
She also noted that average production growth over the last few years stood at around 11.4 percent across soybean cultivation areas nationwide, including Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
Most of the country’s soybean demand is concentrated in the hotel, restaurant and catering (Horeca) sector, which accounts for 95.68 percent of total consumption of soybeans as a key ingredient in tofu, tempeh and soy sauce.
